Hill of Moreh

Biblical Text

The hill of Moreh is mentioned only once, in Judges 7:1. The text records that Gideon and the people with him encamped beside the well of Harod, while the camp of Midian lay to their north, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. This scene is immediately followed by the account of Gideon's army being reduced to three hundred men (Judges 7:2-8), and then by the account of the three hundred attacking the Midianite camp at night with trumpets, pitchers, and torches (Judges 7:16-22). According to Judges 6:33, the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east encamped in the Jezreel Valley. The hill of Moreh is therefore understood to have stood within this valley or along its edge.

Background

Many scholars hold that the Hebrew word moreh is related to a verb meaning "to teach," and the name is accordingly sometimes interpreted as "one who teaches" or "teacher." The text, however, does not explain how the hill received its name.

Scholars commonly identify the hill of Moreh with the hill that rises in the eastern part of the Jezreel Valley, north of and opposite Mount Gilboa. This hill is known today as Givat HaMoreh (Arabic: Jebel Dahi). On this view, the two armies faced each other across the valley between the foot of Mount Gilboa, where the well of Harod is located, and the hill of Moreh. This identification is an inference based on the terrain and the directional details of the text; Scripture does not confirm it directly.

Significance in the Wider Bible

If this hill is identified as the hill of Moreh, several villages associated with other biblical events lie around it. Shunem, where Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:8-37), is generally located on its southwestern slope. Nain, where Jesus raised a widow's only son (Luke 7:11-17), is generally located on its northern slope. The placement of Nain on the northern slope of this hill, south of Galilee, rests on the fact that a present-day village bearing the same name, Nein, still stands there.

A number of commentators note that the two events are similar stories set on opposite sides of the same hill. Both are accounts of a dead son raised and restored to his mother, and at Nain the crowd declares, "A great prophet is risen up among us" (Luke 7:16). The text of Luke, however, does not mention the hill of Moreh or Shunem directly.

Interpretation and Issues

• Distinction from the oak of Moreh: Genesis 12:6 and Deuteronomy 11:30 mention "the plain of Moreh" (often rendered "the oak of Moreh"), the place in the land of Shechem to which Abraham came. Although the name is the same, that site lay near Shechem, south of the Jezreel Valley, and most scholars regard it as a different place from the hill of Moreh.
• Connections outside the text: The link between the hill of Moreh and Nain and Shunem derives from geographical identification; the biblical text does not state it directly. The conflict between Saul and the Philistines in the same region (1 Samuel 28:4; 31:1) is also frequently mentioned in this connection, but the name "hill of Moreh" does not appear in those passages.